This invention relates to an array antenna which is constructed for stowing on board a satellite by use of hinged antenna elements and, more particularly, to an array antenna having a main reflector and a subreflector, the subreflector comprising a frequency selective surface (FSS) allowing concurrent operation at the S band portion of the electromagnetic spectrum by reflection from the subreflector to the main reflector and at C band by transmission through the subreflector, the C band employing a common feed for two signal channels at different frequencies.
The use of satellite communication systems imposes increasing burdens in the amount of electronic equipment to be carried by a satellite to accommodate numerous electromagnetic signal transmission channels, both up-link from the earth to the satellite and down-link to the earth from the satellite. For example, in a situation of interest herein, there is a requirement for provision of an S-band signal channel and two C-band signal channels wherein one of the C-band channels is employed for transmission by the satellite and the other C-band channel is employed for reception by the satellite.
A problem arises in that, in order to provide for the foregoing single S-band and two C-band channels, current satellite communication technology employs a plurality of antennas to accommodate the three channels. This is undesirable in that the plural antennas occupy additional space on the satellite and add additional weight to the satellite resulting in increased complexity for stowage and deployment and increased cost in launching the satellite.